F1 | FP1 | Belgian GP | Piastri tops busy session; Sainz hit with fuel-system issue - Motorsport

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McLaren Racing’s Oscar Piastri kicked off his weekend on top during FP1—the sole practice session of the F1 Belgian GP, full report and results below.

The F1 Belgian GP marks the third of six sprint weekends in 2025. With just one practice session this weekend, teams must adapt quickly and dial in a setup that suits their cars for the Sprint. Spa-Francorchamps, with its deep racing heritage, presents a unique challenge with its 7.004km layout. With high-speed corners and long-straights that test the limits of both car and driver, the circuit still remains the longest on the calendar.

After several weeks off, teams and driver will be eager to find their rhythm again ahead of a weekend full of racing. This weekend several teams have brought new upgrade packages to their cars. But, a particular attention has been placed on Ferrari’s upgrades as this package is expected to define their competitiveness for the remainder of the season. If successful, the upgrades could position Ferrari closer to McLaren—potentially becoming their closest challengers as twelve races remain.

Green lights for FP1!

For this first time in several years, Pirelli has brought a non-consecutive tyre compounds—C1 as the hard, C3 as the medium and C4 as the soft. As one hour ticked down, all drivers headed out on track. Leaving the pit lane, both Ferrari’s appeared with flow-vis sprayed over the rear of the cars. Williams’ struggles continued as Sainz hopped onto the radio to feedback to his team reporting acceleration issues. The Spaniard limped back into the pits as the team reported it was a critical problem that needed to be managed.

Similarly, Stroll headed back into the garage having reported an issue as well. Whilst chose to start their session on the hard tyres, both Haas’ and Red Bull’s were on the mediums. Setting the first laps of the session, Norris went to the top of the timesheets with a 1:46.082. But, it wasn’t long before Verstappen replaced him with a 1:45.545. Next across the line was Leclerc with a 1:45.999—four tenths behind Verstappen.

Williams’ cooling issues continue

As the track remained busy, cameras caught a busy Williams garage as mechanics continued to investigate the issue. Still carrying their cooling issues, this was definitely not the start they needed to a busy Sprint weekend.

Meanwhile, runs on the hard tyre continued. Improving on his second run, Piastri claimed his position on top with a 1:44.979. A big lock-up from Antonelli as he headed into La Source. Similarly, Colapinto was next to do the same as well. Hamilton, who was in P16, jumped onto the radio to feedback rear-locking and instability in his car.

The hard tyres needed several laps before drivers were able to extract performance out of them.

Stroll back on track, Sainz’s issues linked to fuel system

Since pitting after his first out-lap, Stroll was now back out on track after a reported seat change. Meanwhile, it was confirmed that Sainz’s issues are related to the car’s fuel system. The track died down as the practice session hit the halfway mark. Replay showed several impeding incidents as Leclerc, Bortoleto and Hamilton were in each others way.

First driver on the soft tyres was Colapinto. Momentarily losing the rear of his car at Pouhon, the Argentinean clocked a time of 1:45.727 on softs, only enough for P16. Race control noted an impeding incident that involved Colapinto and Russell.

28 minutes remained as Sainz was now back out on track. However, after his first lap, the Spaniard remained at the bottom. The stewards determined the impeding incident between Colapinton and Russell needed no further investigation.

Last 15 minutes of session

The closing stages of the session reached as Leclerc remained on top with a 1:44.148—just 0.005s faster than Piastri. On a different run-plan from other teams, both Haas’ were in the top ten—signifying their preferred choice of hard tyres for both races. Stroll was the next driver on the soft tyres. Currently P11, the Canadian’s lap catapulted to the top with a 1:43.112. With the session now coming to a close, more drivers headed out on soft tyre runs ahead of Sprint Qualifying later today.

Already a tenth up on the first sector, Piastri was lighting up the timesheets as he headed on his first soft tyre run. With a purple middle and final sector, the Australian’s went to the top with a 1:42.123. Meanwhile, Alonso joined his teammate in the top three with a 1:43.120. However, Verstappen crossed the line to go P2 with a 1:42.653—half a second away from Piastri.

Next across the line was Leclerc with a 1:42.972, a lap enough for P3. Meanwhile still on the mediums, Russell crossed the line to replace Verstappen in P2 with a 1:42.598. Norris, who made a mistake and ran wide at Stavelot, only managed to go P10 with a 1:43.174. Bearman was next to get caught out at Stavelot as the Briton made a trip across the gravel trap.

On a final run, Piastri was going even quicker. A clean second run from Norris was enough for P2. But, was still half a second shy from his teammate. Improving on his initial run, Piastri crossed the line to improve with a 1:42.022. Splitting the two McLarens, Verstappen slotted into P2 to finish the session with a 1:42.426.